• Blaze in Lahore-bound Karachi Express linked to short circuit
• Railways minister says sabotage can’t be ruled out, orders inquiry

SUKKUR/LAHORE: At least seven people were killed and four children went missing after a coach on a moving passenger train caught fire overnight in Sindh’s Khairpur district, officials said on Thursday.

Railways official Mohsin Siyal confirmed the number of casualties and said that the train, which was on its way from Karachi to Lahore, caught fire near the Tando Masti Khan village.

He said six people were killed in the blaze, while an old woman died when she jumped from the window of the moving train.

Police surgeon Dr Abu Talib said the bodies of six victims were “unidentifiable” and would be handed over to the families after DNA tests. The bodies were shifted to the Civil Hospital, Khairpur.

Railways officials in Sukkur told the media that they found three burnt bodies in Coach 4, where the blaze erupted, whereas two teenage victims were found in Coach 18, where they had run to save their lives. Two bodies were found lying outside the train.

They said the train was disconnected and half of its coaches were towed to Gambat Railway Station. Meanwhile, firefighters managed to douse the blaze after a two-and-a-half-hour effort.

Dr Rahim Bakhsh Bhatti, head of the Gambat Institute of Medical Science, reached the incident site with his team to give first aid to the injured and shift them to the institute for further treatment.

Railways staff and Pakistan Army soldiers carried out the rescue work for about eight hours and cleared the up and down tracks for other trains, which had been stopped at different stations after the incident.

Sabotage can’t be ruled out Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, meanwhile, ordered an inquiry into the incident and formed a team headed by the federal government inspector of railways.

Expressing grief over the loss of lives, he informed the National Assembly that the possibility of sabotage could not be ruled out, the APP reported.

The minister said he was “not satisfied” with the version that the fire broke out due to a short circuit.

However, he told lawmakers that the factual situation would be cleared within one to two days after an inquiry into the incident.

PR official begins probe

Meanwhile, the Federal Government Inspector of Railways (FGIR) — a senior Railways officer — has started an investigation into the incident.

An initial report shared internally by the relevant officials with top Railways officers after inspecting the burnt coach has apparently identified short circuits as a main cause of the incident.

“Though the FGIR has been assigned to probe and submit a preliminary report within the next couple of days, a very initial on-spot observation made by the officers concerned has identified short circuit a major cause that rapidly spread to the eruption of the massive fire, killing seven people and injuring others,” a senior Railways official, who declined to be named, told Dawn on Thursday.

In October 2019, 73 people were killed and 40 injured after three bogies of a Tezgam train bound for Rawalpindi caught fire near Liaquatpur in Punjab’s Rahim Yar Khan.

However, the official said the 2019 fire incident was different from the present one.

“The main reason behind the massive fire in Tezgam Express was the LPG cylinder carried by a passenger,” he said.

Besides, the coaches burnt in Tezgam were of the economy class and not of the business class, where belongings of passengers were inspected closely, he said, adding that it was impossible that someone might carry a gas cylinder there.

Incident report

According to an incident report compiled by Pakistan Railways, the Karachi Express train having engine No. 9014 (GEU 40) and a total load of 940 tonnes was being driven by the driver Shamsuddin and assistant driver Asghar Raza of the PR’s Karachi division.

Before reaching the Tando Masti Khan station, the driver reported at 12:40am to the authorities about the drop of pressure and eruption of fire.

On this, the control office contacted the guard in charge of the train and inquired about the matter. The guard reported that the fire erupted in AC business coach No. 12525-0 (fourth from the engine) at KM No. 436/5 near Tando Masti Khan.

The affected coach was immediately isolated and fire brigades were called from Khairpur and other cities. “The first fire brigade reached the site at 1:50am followed by another at 1:55am,” the report said.

It stated that as many as 13 trains (up and down), including a special Eid train, were stopped at various stations, including Khairpur and Rohri.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2023